Salim Muwakkil
# Salim Muwakkil

Salim Muwakkil (born Alonzo James Cannady, January 20, 1947) is an American journalist and political commentator, based in Chicago. He is a senior editor at In These Times magazine and an op-ed columnist for the Chicago Tribune.

Muwakkil writes on African-American issues, Middle East politics, and US foreign policy. He is a Crime and Communities Media Fellow of the Open Society Institute, and teaches a seminar on race, media, and politics for the Urban Studies Program of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest.

Muwakkil, born in New York City, attended Rutgers University in New Jersey; he graduated with a BA in Political Science in 1973.

## Background and career

After graduating from Linden High School, Muwakkil joined the U.S. Air Force in 1964. After serving five-years as an administration specialist in Germany, he returned in 1969 and enrolled at Rutgers University, graduating in 1973. He joined the Black Panther Party directly after his discharge.

Shortly before his graduation, Muwakkil began his journalism career at the Associated Press in Newark, New Jersey as a reporter.

Later, he joined the Nation of Islam. He moved to Muhammad Speaks and its successor Bilalian News as a copy editor and then managing editor. He is now a former activist in that movement.

After moving to Chicago, Muwakkil joined the staff at In These Times in 1983 and became a contributing writer to the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune. He hosts "The Salim Muwakkil" show on WVON, Chicago's historic Black radio station.

Muwakkil serves as board member for the Progressive Media Project and the Chicago-based Public Square. In the past he has been an adjunct professor at Columbia College, Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

